TimeLine Theatre Company announced today that Managing Director Elizabeth K. Auman will be transitioning her responsibilities away from day-to-day management of the company in order to focus exclusively on the project management necessary to guide TimeLine’s new home development in Uptown.
TimeLine Theatre Managing Director Elizabeth K. Auman
TimeLine’s Board and Company will conduct a search for a new executive leader who will become the co-equal leader of the organization alongside PJ Powers as Artistic Director, guiding TimeLine’s strategic and financial direction, Board and staff development, productions, and its many other organizational goals.
“When Liz first brought this idea to PJ and me, we were initially surprised, yet deeply grateful for her clear understanding of TimeLine’s current needs,” Board President John Sterling said. “Our core tasks as an organization right now are significant. In addition to Liz’s focus on managing the development of our new home, we are working hard toward resuming production with a renewed commitment to equity and wellness and continuing on our path toward becoming an anti-racist organization.”
“With this leadership expansion, TimeLine will benefit from Liz’s ability to focus on opening our new home,” Sterling said. “And it provides a thrilling opportunity to welcome a new leadership voice at our organization.”
“This new building is an investment in the future of TimeLine—a home for artists, audiences, and community members that will ensure the company and its mission can endure,” Auman said. “We want to create a space and an organization where artists are supported in doing their best work, where the community can thrive, and where the next generation will see themselves.”
“So I’m invigorated by the prospect of this leadership transition and sharpened focus,” Auman continued. “I believe my skills will best serve TimeLine through leading the effort to make this new home a reality and securing that meaningful future. And after 14 years of leading this organization alongside PJ, I’m inspired by the prospect of a new voice taking that role and seeing the renewed creativity that will surely ignite.”
According to TimeLine’s governing by-laws, the Board of Directors and team of artistic Company members are collectively responsible for decision-making about the leadership of the organization. Further details, including the timeframe and next steps for the search, will be announced soon, pending the Board and Company’s work to develop a job description and an inclusive, collaborative, and transparent search process.
“Liz has been a quintessential partner with me for 14 years, guiding TimeLine’s growth with poise, grace, and a deep investment in our mission,” Powers said. “She has also been a driving force behind establishing a new home for our future. At this critical phase for the project, I am so grateful that she wants to ensure that TimeLine’s long-held dream will become a reality. By choosing to shift her focus to this project, she is yet again providing inspiring leadership to usher in a new era for the organization. True to TimeLine’s values, the search for a new executive leader will be inclusive, collaborative, and transparent.”
Auman joined TimeLine Theatre in October 2007 and since then has overseen a quadrupling of the company’s budget; the largest capital improvements in the company’s history; extended runs of multiple shows; the expansion of TimeLine’s programming to additional venues, most recently OSLO at the Broadway Playhouse; and multiple awards for excellence in arts management, including the 2016 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.
Prior to TimeLine, Auman spent 15 years at Victory Gardens Theater, 12 as General Manager. During that time, she helped guide Victory Gardens through major transitions and accomplishments, including budget growth from $1.2 million to $3 million, receiving the Tony Award for Regional Theatre in 2001, an $11.8 million capital campaign, and the move to the Biograph Theater in 2006.
To read a Q&A with Auman about this leadership transition and expansion, visit our blog at timelinetheatre.com/2021/08/leadership-transition-interview-with-elizabeth-auman.
To view today’s news release sharing updates about TimeLine’s new home process, click here.
HGA design rendering of TimeLine’s future new home at 5035 N. Broadway in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood
About TimeLine Theatre Company
TimeLine Theatre Company, recipient of the prestigious 2016 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, was founded in April 1997 with a mission to present stories inspired by history that connect with today's social and political issues. Currently entering its 25th season, TimeLine has presented 82 productions, including 10 world premieres and 38 Chicago premieres, and launched the Living History Education Program, which brings the company's mission to life for students in Chicago Public Schools. Recipient of the Alford-Axelson Award for Nonprofit Managerial Excellence and the Richard Goodman Strategic Planning Award from the Association for Strategic Planning, TimeLine has received 58 Jeff Awards, including an award for Outstanding Production 11 times.
TimeLine is led by Artistic Director PJ Powers, Managing Director Elizabeth K. Auman and Board President John Sterling. Company members are Tyla Abercrumbie, Will Allan, Nick Bowling, Janet Ulrich Brooks, Wardell Julius Clark, Behzad Dabu, Charles Andrew Gardner, Lara Goetsch, Juliet Hart, Anish Jethmalani, Mildred Marie Langford, Mechelle Moe, David Parkes, Ron OJ Parson, PJ Powers, Maren Robinson, and Benjamin Thiem.
Major corporate, government and foundation supporters of TimeLine Theatre include the Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation, Allstate Corporation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, City of Chicago, Crown Family Philanthropies, Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation, The Forum Fund, Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Illinois Arts Council Agency, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Laughing Acres Family Foundation, MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, National Endowment for the Arts, Pritzker Traubert Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and the United States Small Business Administration.
For more information, visit timelinetheatre.com or Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram (@TimeLineTheatre).